I read about the Islanders rumour off of Spectors' Notes (I think it was Larry Brooks or Al Morganti who wrote the original item, but I can't remember now... this was about 2 weeks ago).

Found this in the Spector's archives:

MILBURY THREATENS CHANGES

NEWSDAY: Alan Hahn reports a frustrated Mike Milbury is threatening to make sweeping changes to his roster if the NY Islanders fail to snap out of a prolonged slump that has crashed them to the bottom of the league standings. Milbury singled out his core players, among them Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin, Mark Parrish and the team's best defencemen, as contributing to the problem. Milbury also acknowledged the possibility he could be replaced, although owner Charles Wang has been loyal to Milbury since buying the club three years ago. It's believed the Leafs and Senators are interested in Peca, and the Tampa Bay Lightning may be interested in reacquiring Roman Hamrlik. Hahn lists Edmonton's Mike Comrie, Calgary's Denis Gauthier and Chicago's Tyler Arnason as potentially available for trade.

Spector's Note: I've already touched on the Peca situation. If Hamrlik is available, the Bolts might have company in the Maple Leafs, as he's the type of defenceman they've lacked for years. Comrie is available, but the 'Hawks denied Arnason was, and Gauthier recently accused the media of making up rumours that had no basis in truth.

NEWSDAY: Alan Hahn reports a frustrated Mike Milbury is threatening to make sweeping changes to his roster if the NY Islanders fail to snap out of a prolonged slump that has crashed them to the bottom of the league standings. Milbury singled out his core players, among them Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin, Mark Parrish and the team's best defencemen, as contributing to the problem. Milbury also acknowledged the possibility he could be replaced, although owner Charles Wang has been loyal to Milbury since buying the club three years ago. It's believed the Leafs and Senators are interested in Peca, and the Tampa Bay Lightning may be interested in reacquiring Roman Hamrlik. Hahn lists Edmonton's Mike Comrie, Calgary's Denis Gauthier and Chicago's Tyler Arnason as potentially available for trade.

Spector's Note: I've already touched on the Peca situation. If Hamrlik is available, the Bolts might have company in the Maple Leafs, as he's the type of defenceman they've lacked for years. Comrie is available, but the 'Hawks denied Arnason was, and Gauthier recently accused the media of making up rumours that had no basis in truth.

This isn't what I was thinking of. Just took a quick look through the archives myself, and couldn't find it. Must've seen it somewhere else... I'll have to do some digging.

Why hell would Comrie get to pick which team he wants to go to... I know he's has the right if he wants to sign.. but at the moment I think he'll sign anywhere... Who ever the Oilers get the best return he shall go.. Who gives the ****** what Comrie wants.... He can suck it...

Comrie said himself he'll sign for less with any other team.. I NEVER heard him say he doesn't want to play for this team and this team.... All I heard was I will play with any other team except the Oilers... Its a matter of who is interested in Comrie... and from what I heard 6 or 7 teams are interested.... If I was Lowe I'd trade him for the best offer... No rush to make a move cause when I see all these offers coming through its prospects... not gonna help our Oilers ASAP... so why pull the trigger unless you know what u are getting in return... Perry is a good prospect... I think Lowe is really bitter at Comrie and wants to make it more difficult for Comrie to accept reality.... I do support Lowe 100%...

Comrie said himself he'll sign for less with any other team.. I NEVER heard him say he doesn't want to play for this team and this team.... All I heard was I will play with any other team except the Oilers... Its a matter of who is interested in Comrie... and from what I heard 6 or 7 teams are interested.... If I was Lowe I'd trade him for the best offer... No rush to make a move cause when I see all these offers coming through its prospects... not gonna help our Oilers ASAP... so why pull the trigger unless you know what u are getting in return... Perry is a good prospect... I think Lowe is really bitter at Comrie and wants to make it more difficult for Comrie to accept reality.... I do support Lowe 100%...

I'm pretty sure i read in a EDM newspapar article of his agent saying "there are teams he won't sign for therfore he has the upper hand" something like that. Maybe the writer made it up though? i dunno.

I think the bottom line that Comrie doesnt have the cranial capacity to understand is he belongs to the oilers for a long long time. IF he went the free agent route a team could make an offer for him then wed have to match - and match we will cause otherwise we get nothing for him. But that means Comrie will end up signing here and everyone will be basically stuck in an elevator glaring at eachother for a year lol. It would be poison in the dressing room i suppose but if the kid wants to play hardball then lets play! Also if he does go this route and solicits an offer sheet from someplace else, once the oilers match and he signs here we could trade him wherever we want couldnt we? and hed be under contract to play there or his NHL career would be finito no?

I think the bottom line that Comrie doesnt have the cranial capacity to understand is he belongs to the oilers for a long long time. IF he went the free agent route a team could make an offer for him then wed have to match - and match we will cause otherwise we get nothing for him. But that means Comrie will end up signing here and everyone will be basically stuck in an elevator glaring at eachother for a year lol. It would be poison in the dressing room i suppose but if the kid wants to play hardball then lets play! Also if he does go this route and solicits an offer sheet from someplace else, once the oilers match and he signs here we could trade him wherever we want couldnt we? and hed be under contract to play there or his NHL career would be finito no?

The oilers wouldn't get nothing if Comrie signs an offer sheet and the Oilers don't match... depending on the value of the contract, The Oilers could get anywhere from a 1st and a 2nd, to two or three 1st rounders.

If the Oilers matched an offer sheet (which would remove the original offer sheet, so he wouldn't even have the option of signing with the other team), and Comrie signed, the Oilers wouldn't be able to trade him for 1 year from the date it was signed. Then he'd have to play wherever he was sent, but that would be one strange year, and I think Comrie would avoid the offer sheet to avoid another year trapped with the Oilers - I think he'd rather sit a while longer. It might still be hard to trade him anyway, because it would likely be a one or two year deal, so they'd be trying to trade him with very little contract left, and he could refuse to sign an extension, which would scare some teams away.

Is the rumor that Comrie doesn't want to play for the nyi just a rumor making it's way around trade boards or was it reported by a reliable Oiler beatwriter?

thanks in advance for any info.

To answer your original question, yes it was reported by a reputable beat writer here in Edmonton. The article was in the Edmonton Journal, and it was written by Jim Matheson (who is an NHL Hall of Famer now, incidentally). Unfortunately the article is not available online anymore, but to paraphrase it, Matheson said that there were prelim inquiries from Lowe to the Comrie camp (back when the Peca rumours started), but Comrie indicated he was not amenable to playing for Milbury in Long Island.

If all were getting is prospects for any deal involving Comrie then Lowe may as well hold on to him until this june's draft and maybe aquire some goods their.If lowe really wants to improve the current lineup he has it's pretty clear he is going to have to move some bodies off the current roster and maybe even from the farm to do it.Damn we really need one of these teams interested in crybaby comrie to tank so they can pony up but I really don't see it happening.